Texas Grid Needs Connectivity And Weatherproofing
The Texas power grid, 90 percent of which is managed by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), is unique in the United States. Unlike other states, Texas operates an independent power grid with very minimal connection to the two national grids: the Eastern Interconnection and the Western Interconnection. This independence is deeply rooted in the state’s preference for minimal federal oversight, yet it has repeatedly exposed vulnerabilities that have had dire consequences for millions of Texans.
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The Year That Was: 2024 Energy Stocks - Winners And Losers
As the global energy landscape evolves, investors must assess the stability of traditional fossil fuels against the growth potential of renewable energy and advanced nuclear technologies. Some experts highlight a rising global backlash against renewables, as increasing evidence in Europe and elsewhere raises questions about long-term profitability and sustainability without government largesse. Others argue that addressing climate change is non-negotiable, making renewables a safe investment. This article also reflects the expected revival of the nuclear industry.
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Hidden Costs, Rusting Relics: Decommissioning Wind Turbines In The US
The U.S. Wind Turbine Database contains more than 74,695 wind turbines built since 1980, spread between 1,699 wind power projects in 45 states. However, thousands of wind turbines are reaching the end of their operational lifespan and need to be either repowered to make way for updated (often larger) turbines or entirely decommissioned to allow for new uses of the land they occupy. Unfortunately, there is no uniform legal framework to regulate the steps involved, nor is there an accepted industry-wide set of best practices, and the environmental costs are considerable.
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2025’s Energy Megatrends: Seeking Energy Security And Reviving Nuclear
In the run-up to President-Elect Donald Trump’s January 20, 2025, inauguration, energy markets have already begun to adjust to the new administration’s new economic policies. The incoming team’s support for the oil, gas, and nuclear industries reflects a re-evaluation of renewables stemming partly from a global shift towards energy security and reliability to hedge against the effects of the U.S.-China competition. This comes at a time when companies and states alike are seeking to secure more and cheaper energy than ever in anticipation of drastic increases in consumption for AI processing and/or higher levels of economic activity.
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A New Start: Central Asia's Nuclear Potential & Peril
The International Tax and Investment Center's Energy, Growth, and Security Program organized a panel on March 12th, 2024, discussing the rise of Central Asia's civilian nuclear industry and how to best incorporate it as a part of the energy mix across the region.
We Can No Longer Afford to Let China Do Our Rare Earth Mining
On Dec. 3, China banned exporting critical minerals such as gallium, germanium, and antimony to the United States. This came in the wake of the Biden administration's announcement of new restrictions on the sale of chips and specialized chip-making machinery and software to China the day before. This exchange is merely the latest round in the ongoing battle for the raw materials that control the future of energy and tech. China and the U.S. are in a wrestling match over mineral dominance that is more critical than the 20th-century struggle for the control of oil.
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The Blockchain Revolution In The Energy Market
Blockchain is moving beyond cryptocurrencies. By 2026, the market for blockchain in the energy sector is set to exceed $1.5 billion—a massive leap from just $127.5 million in 2018. Energy companies see immense potential in this technology, including how it can transform everything from grid management to green energy trading.
Blockchain is a digital technology that records transactions between parties and securely stores that information across a decentralized system. Multiple participants verify and record the information so it cannot be altered or tampered with. Although blockchain is best known as the key system behind cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, it can be used for any secure transaction, and its applications in the energy sector are rapidly expanding.
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Winter Is Coming, But Russia Refuses To Stop The Energy War On Ukraine
A massive attack by Russia against the Ukrainian energy infrastructure on Sunday, November 17th may have caused the Biden Administration to green-light Ukraine’s use of the U.S. ATACMS long-range missiles. Ukraine took parts of the Kursk region during its 2024 summer offensive and is struggling to hold on in the region as some 50,000 Russian forces, bolstered by North Korean troops, fight to regain control. Biden’s OK, long awaited by Kyiv, was followed by green lights from the French and British for use of their SCALP/Storm Shadow missiles, with a range of 250 km. Yet, most military experts and analysts doubt that the addition of these long-range systems into the battle for Kursk will bring a decisive turn in the ongoing war, let alone a Ukrainian victory.
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U.S. COPing Out Of Global Climate Leadership?
Clean energy shares in the United States experienced a significant decline following Donald Trump’s election to a second term. The WilderHill Clean Energy Index fell by 6.7%, with solar companies like Sunnova Energy International Inc. and Sunrun Inc. dropping as much as 51% and 29%, respectively. The timing of this downturn is unfortunate, as green stocks plummeted while the flagship United Nations Conference on Climate Change, COP29, convened in Baku on November 11. Although it is currently unclear which Biden-era environmental initiatives Trump intends to eliminate and how those included in the Inflation Reduction Act will be affected, green technology firms are bracing for impact.
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Google’s Search For AI-Enabling Secure Energy Goes Nuclear
As Google’s AI energy needs skyrocket, the company recently inked a deal with Kairos Power, a nuclear power company started in 2016, to meet Google’s growing energy needs. The deal between the two companies includes plans to bring a small modular reactor online by 2030 and produce up to 500MW by 2035, according to a Google blog statement, the approximate annual consumption of 360,000 average American households. This deal comes as other tech giants such as Microsoft, Amazon, and Oracle make similar moves, investing heavily in nuclear startups or bringing back old reactors online as they seek to power their data centers.
Joe Biden’s Iran Oil Sanctions Failure
As Iran is spending billions of dollars funding Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthi militias in Yemen, Hamas and Islamic Jihad in Gaza, and Katai’b Hezbollah in Iraq, the recently released Energy Information Administration (EIA) report on Iranian petroleum exports stands out as a sobering reminder that the Obama-Biden on-and-off sanctions on Tehran have failed. In fact, as the sanctions against the Kremlin over its invasion of Ukraine suggest, sanctions alone are no panacea against aggressor states. U.S. trade policy frequently fails to stop flagrant sanctions violations.
China Bets On Leadership In The Green Tech Frontier
At the 2024 BRICS summit, China claimed that its advances in Green Tech serve as a “valuable reference” for the bloc and the globe. While Beijing talks a good game about its investments in renewables as an engine of domestic and global economic growth, the realities of China’s sluggish economy suggest otherwise.
Earlier this month, China observed Golden Week, a period with several cultural and political holidays in early October, including the 75th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party's rise to power. Usually, such an occasion would be celebrated with much fanfare, but this time things were muted. As Golden Week approached, the Chinese economy struggled despite early stimulus measures announced by the CCP. These included outstanding mortgage rate cuts, recapitalizing banks, new measures to encourage mergers and acquisitions, and other economic stimulus provisions.
The Summit Of The Future’s Vision: Will It Help The Energy-Poor Now?
Following the latest United Nations General Assembly, the UN Summit of the Future adopted the “Pact for the Future,” a document filled with ambitious pledges to tackle climate change, peace and security, and global inequalities. Secretary General of the UN Guterres proclaimed the pact a “’once in a generation’ opportunity to renew multilateral cooperation”.
The pact revolves around accelerating the transition to renewable energy and achieving net-zero emissions by mid-century. However, this ambitious vision for the future risks losing sight of the present and does not do enough for the 760 million people worldwide – 80 percent of whom are located in Sub-Saharan Africa, who do not have access to even basic electricity. The immediate energy needs of developing countries are being sidelined in favor of long-term ideals and platitudes.
Vance And Walz On America's Energy Future
Amid the destruction of Hurricane Helene, which caused catastrophic flooding and power outages across five states, the two vice presidential candidates, Senator JD Vance (R-OH) and Governor Tim Walz (D-MN), debated the future of U.S. clean energy policies at the first (and only) vice presidential debate of the 2024 campaign in New York.
While the debate primarily focused on Hurricane Helene’s fiscal and humanitarian impact with climate change as a central topic, it quickly veered towards U.S. clean energy production, spotlighting the country’s readiness to compete globally, particularly against China’s manufacturing capabilities.
Iran Threatens To Hold Global Energy Hostage
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced Moscow’s support of Iran’s aggression against Israel at a meeting with the Islamic Republic’s President Masoud Pezeshkian on October 11th in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan. Russia is boosting Iran’s military-industrial complex by purchasing thousands of ballistic missiles and “suicide” drones for its war in Ukraine.
Putin’s statement comes after Iran launched some 200 missiles targeting populated areas in Israel on October 1st and has been providing support to its proxies Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis as well as Palestinian Islamic Jihad. The Islamic Republic and its proxies pose a serious threat to the energy sector, including oil and gas in the Middle East. Ongoing tensions in the Persian Gulf, where the US and Iranian navies have repeatedly had risky encounters, and continuing Iranian attacks on Israel threaten to escalate into a more intense region-wide military confrontation. This could lead to a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, through which thirty percent of the world's seaborne crude oil trade passes. Iran has repeatedly threatened to block the Strait, while Iranian proxies mount further attacks in the region.
Kazakhstan Referendum Will Reshape Nuclear Energy In Central Asia
Kazakhstan has employed the time-honored practice of obtaining societal feedback by holding a referendum on October 6th, 2024, to determine whether it should begin constructing a nuclear power plant. With 64% of registered voters in the country submitting ballots, the referendum passed. 71.12% of voters voted in favor of building the plant, according to the Central Referendum Commission. At a time when several countries are giving nuclear a second look as part of the move toward lowering carbon emissions for energy production, this expression of popular opinion impacts the national energy supply and hydrocarbon export capacity at an important juncture in Kazakhstan’s modernization. It is also an example of the region's popular engagement in major public policy questions.
Gastech: A Thriving Gas Sector, If You Can Keep It
Gastech, the annual global natural gas powwow that just wrapped up after three days in Houston, Texas, showcased a thriving industry that has benefited from great technological breakthroughs in recent decades. Hydraulic fracturing and liquefication are the two key technologies boosting the industry. While America considered importing liquified natural gas at the start of the millennium, today, the U.S. is the dominant exporter of LNG, bigger than Australia and Qatar.
Trump And Harris Duel Over Energy
Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump met for the first time on the debate stage on September 10, 2024, in Philadelphia. Though light on specific policies and plans, the event presented stark contrasts in their approaches to energy, climate, and geopolitics. Among the many topics discussed, both candidates used the occasion to position American energy independence as key to the country’s future, unusually highlighting the topic.
Europe’s Energy Policy Failures Fuel Election Shocks
Europe has been rocked by a series of decisive elections in the past months. In Germany, the populist-right Alternative for Germany, known as the AfD, won Thuringia’s state election, marking the first victory of a nationalist party in a German state election since 1945. This follows the party’s political gains earlier this year when the ruling coalition of the Social Democrats, Greens, and Free Democrats suffered a significant defeat in the EU parliament elections at the hands of the AfD, which got the second-highest share of the votes, upending the ruling Social Democrats.
Biden’s Carbon Capture: Miracle Or Mirage?
When Australian oil company Santos launched a low-emission oil field in Alaska using carbon capture technology, it was a rare international environmental victory. In an era defined by a global rediscovery of industrial policy, increasing tariffs, and an obsession with supply chain security and “made in America,” Santos stands out. That’s because there is one green initiative so important, though seldom discussed, from the Biden administration’s green agenda: carbon capture. This project by a friendly, albeit foreign, company dampens protectionist headwinds.
Coal’s Asian Comeback
Southeast Asia’s renewable energy potential is some of the greatest in the world. In bold pursuit of renewable energy, Vietnam is undertaking an unorthodox but promising green hydrogen strategy, Thailand’s Prime Minister has promised to explore the cutting edge of nuclear power, and the Philippines has received broad praise for its commitment to renewables and regional trend-setting.
Why Are U.S. EV Sales Flatlining?
President Biden wanted to make half of all new vehicles electric by 2030, but American consumers apparently are saying no. American market trends are skewing differently than expected. Despite the U.S. government’s efforts to subsidize electric vehicles, there is an apparent slowdown in sales. While global EV sales are steadily increasing, U.S. sales are falling behind those of Europe and China.
Energy After SCOTUS Overturns Chevron Deference
The Supreme Court has overturned Chevron deference, a precedent set in 1984 when the Court ruled in Chevron U.S.A. Inc. vs. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc that if a statute was ambiguous and Congress had not explicitly addressed an issue, then courts must defer to the agency’s approach to addressing it as long as the agency provides “a permissible construction of the statute.” The new precedent-setting ruling voids this decision, diminishing federal agencies’ powers, influencing pending and established environmental regulations, and creating a powerful new argument for regulatory disputes, including in energy-related industries and areas. Ultimately, this ruling will send energy companies and their opponents to court, where their attorneys and representatives of the federal and state governments, and environmentalist NGOs will bear the weight of litigation.
Is Hydropower’s Potential Drying Up?
A drought has forced Canada, which traditionally relies on hydroelectric energy for 60% of its total electricity, to reverse its energy trading relationship with the United States. Not only has Canada cut the amount of energy it sends to the US, but U.S. energy exports to Canada have outpaced its imports. In March, the amount of energy the US sent to Canada reached its highest level since 2010, marking a major change in the relationship between the two countries. America has historically depended on Canadian energy, with Canada exporting more energy to the US than any other country, including Saudi Arabia in its heyday. Now, the US may be unable to rely on cheap energy from the friendly next-door neighbor.
The Trump-Biden Presidential Debate And U.S. Energy Policy
The first presidential debate between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump on Thursday, June 27th, may be shocking for the lack of civility, terrible optics and demeanor, but policy differences were present and obvious. Energy policy didn’t feature prominently, but there was plenty to glean from the debate. Environmental regulations, geoeconomic foreign policy, and the energy transition have become political landmines.
